"Kids, We're Going to Kuwait. Mommy's Got a ... Um ... Job."
At the end of July, the San Antonio Express News took note of the "the largest Army contract-rigging and bribery case to emerge from the Iraq reconstruction effort" -- which just so happened to involve a Dallas-area teacher. Court documents allege that Carolyn Blake -- along with her brother, Army Major John Lee Cockerham, and his wife -- "used an elaborate network of offshore bank accounts and safe deposit boxes to hide nearly $10 million in bribes from companies seeking military contracts." That comes from today's New York Times, which has a front-page piece on the government's allegations against Cockerham and his family -- a story sure to hit the big screen near you, no doubt as a dark comedic thriller a la Three Kings or, more likely, Buffalo Soldiers.
To wit: "Ms. Blake moved to Kuwait because Major Cockerham told her she could make more money there than she was making as a teacher in Dallas, according to the court papers. Mrs. Cockerham, who lived at the couple’s home at Fort Sam Houston, made at least two trips to Kuwait and Dubai, once taking her 7-year-old sons and 3-year-old daughter. The company representatives would show up at her hotel room with bags of cash, then accompany her to put the money in safe deposit boxes, the records assert." At least the kids got to see interesting places with their mother. Some children never get that opportunity. --Robert Wilonsky
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